Narrating violent victimization by positioning self and others

Abstract

Victimologists observe that telling one’s story can foster healing forsurvivors of violence. To understand these processes better, victims’narratives must be understood as situated acts of telling. This paper takesone man’s narration of victimization long past — child abuse and rape — as acase. We examined his interview-derived storytelling with a focus onnarrative positioning, narrative discourse modes, and negations. We foundthat Stefan (a pseudonym) used various discursive modes and narrativepositionings to exercise control over the stories and what they mean. Hisagency was partly achieved by what he recounted not doing or saying, andwhat he refused to address in the interview situation. Thus, his narrativesfeature his own defiance and self-empowerment in both the scene and theaftermath of violence. These findings lead us to conclude that narrativestrategies of storytelling should be taken into account in any practicalinterventions that involves testimony about harm.